Which presonus to buy?

H

hotwired99

New member
I am an experienced guitarist but complete newbie in the recording realm. I'm in the market for my first computer recording interface. My very experienced friend strongly advises the presonus and I trust his advice. I'm trying to decide between 3, however. They all look similar but I want to be sure I'm getting the best choice. I'm not sure what more to say except that my problem is that I really don't know the differences among the 3. Perhaps someone can help? They are compared in the link below, but the models are: Audiobox USB ($99), 22VSL ($175), iTwo ($159)

I am fine with two inputs, and will only be doing my own guitar and vocals, at least to start.

Comparison of 3 PreSonus Audiobox choices
 
I'm in the same boat as you, with similar background, but a few months down the line.

My experience is with a PreSonus AudioBox iTwo and I'm very happy with it. You seem to have done your research, so I'll just give you my reasons for the choice.

- I didn't want to spend 22VSL money in the first place, so I didn't look at it.
- The AudioBox USB can't connect to iOS devices directly, the iTwo can.
- The AudioBox USB only supports direct plugins of guitar-level instruments on one channel. The iTwo can do this on both. I have a stereo instrument - a Chapman Stick which I cannot play yet!
- I have a Mac and an iPad and an iPhone. Practice sessions can be captured on the phone or tablet. The only downside to using the iTwo with an iPad or iPhone is the device doesn't get charged whilst you're using it - the charger for your device is being used to power the iTwo... My iPad runs for 8-9 hours on a full charge. I often use Multitrack DAW or GarageBand to record stereo/mono practice sessions or jams and then port the WAV files to Logic later.

Have fun with whatever you choose to go with!

Cheers, Norman
 
hotwired99 said:
I am an experienced guitarist but complete newbie in the recording realm. I'm in the market for my first computer recording interface. My very experienced friend strongly advises the presonus and I trust his advice. I'm trying to decide between 3, however. They all look similar but I want to be sure I'm getting the best choice. I'm not sure what more to say except that my problem is that I really don't know the differences among the 3. Perhaps someone can help? They are compared in the link below, but the models are: Audiobox USB ($99), 22VSL ($175), iTwo ($159)

I am fine with two inputs, and will only be doing my own guitar and vocals, at least to start.

Comparison of 3 PreSonus Audiobox choices
Click to expand...

The VSL lets you use some presonus effects on the input channel with super low latency. So you can monitor with a compressor, eq, and verb while you record and there isn't any noticeable latency. It's a proprietary thing and no longer works on the Mac, but still works fine on Windows.

Chuck
 
Ive used an audiobox usb and currently use an itwo.
The audiobox usb will clip with a humbucker guitar even with the gain in lowest position. (this was with a low output 8.2ohm humbucker)(check instrument input impedance)
so when using humbuckers go for an itwo or vsl

in short:
The VSL has the xmax preamps. The onboard processing for the fat-channel plug in isn't listed on the presonus website anymore, but probably still works in windows with the older drivers.
itwo has iPad support. And the big volume knob is a plus.
audiobox usb, has none of the above and wont be able to handle high output pick-ups.

You do know you'll need monitors and/or headphones to be able to listen to playback on an audio interface?


edit:
after hitting "send" something came to mind.
If you're gonna record acoustic guitar you could look for the itwo studio set, it has a condensor mic, the interface, and headphones.
When mic'ing amps for electric guitar you're gonna want a Shure SM57.
 
Thank you all~! It sounds like EITHER the iTwo or VSL are just fine. It doesn't sound like there are any limiations to the VSL except for the iPad limitation. I don't own any apple products, so that should be good, although I may one day like to so .... Okay, thanks all. These are VERY helpful. And yes, I do know I need to use headphones or speakers to monitor.
 
I've used the USB for 3 years. It's only drawback, as someone mentioned, is that it gets very hot levels at the lowest settings. I had one guitar that had active pickups and the USB was clipping nonstop. I've since purchased a Gibson Studio Gothic and it runs much better, though I need to keep my guitar volume knob around 7-8. That isn't a problem though.

Quality-wise, my experience around here has told me that you won't improve quality until you spend much more $, as the pre-amps in these models are relatively equal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top